Effects of Environmental Factors on Challenges of Plant Breeding: 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

The Guest Editors are grateful to the many researchers who contributed to the success of the first volume of this Special Issue (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/80AL1EKX5A). We are very pleased to announce the second volume of our Special Issue, “Effects of Environmental Factors on Challenges of Plant Breeding”.

Climate change, including global warming, has led to new challenges, as well as new opportunities, in agriculture and plant breeding. In addition to emerging new biotic risks, including invasive weeds, insects and diseases that threaten many plants, abiotic stressors such as drought and high temperatures are also expected to increase. Plant breeders have to adapt their breeding aims to mitigate these harmful effects. However, new conditions have created new possibilities of expanding the growing area of some field and horticultural crops and/or their growing season, especially the sowing date.

Due to all of the above, autumn-sown varieties of traditionally spring-sown plants are playing an increasingly important role in crop production, especially, but not restricted to, under a temperate climate. Autumn-sown crops—compared with spring varieties—can be characterized by earlier ripening, lower production risk, higher yield and trouble-free harvesting.

In this Special Issue, we aim to provide a platform for original research papers, short communications and reviews related to breeding results, including conventional (field, green house, laboratory) and new (molecular genetics, marker-assisted selection, etc.) breeding methods. Studies on the physiological background of plants’ responses to an altered environment (low temperature, frost, photoperiod, etc.) related to winter hardiness are especially encouraged. High-quality comparisons of the performance of autumn-/spring-sown genotypes with different sowing dates and informative descriptions of new cultivars, including new cultivation technologies, are also welcome, in order to disseminate valuable information about varieties that can be sown in autumn.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Katalin Magyar-Tábori
Dr. Nóra Mendler-Drienyovszki
Guest Editors

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